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* Albanianews (Albania, Italy and Kosovo)

“Un sabato pomeriggio alla scuola albanese di Parma” + altri 1 articoli

 Un sabato pomeriggio alla scuola albanese di Parma

Posted: 25 Nov 2009 07:32 AM PST

La nostra inviata è andata sabato scorso a seguire le lezioni della scuola albanese di Parma, parlare con le insegnanti e i genitori dei piccoli alunni che ogni sabato pomeriggio dalle 15 alle 18 si impegnano a conoscere meglio le loro radici. L’iniziativa, inaugurata il 24 ottobre scorso, è frutto del lavoro dei membri dell’Associazione Scanderbeg di Parma.

 Forlì: il 29 novembre la Festa dell’Indipendenza

Posted: 25 Nov 2009 02:58 AM PST

Musica tradizionale, balli popolari, piatti tipici e tanta voglia di stare insieme, gli ingredienti della festa che l’Associazione Juvenilja organizza domenica 29 novembre, dalle 16.30 alle 20.30, negli ambienti della Vecchia Stazione a Forlì, in occasione del 97esimo anniversario dell’Indipendenza albanese.

> For further information: www.albanianews.it

* Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (Bosnia and Balkans)

Headlines:

 Elections Pave Way for Kosovo Privatisations

Elections in Kosovo’s Serb-majority municipalities have opened the opportunity for further privatisation of state-owned assets, with most eyes fixed on the future of the Brezovica ski resort. Kosovo’s Privatisation Agency has told Balkan Insight that it plans to press ahead with the sale of the important tourist centre next year.

 Montenegro Police Nab Car Mafia

Montenegrin police forces arrested on Wednesday night 17 persons on suspicion of being involved in smuggling of stolen cars.

 Albania Court To Review Greek Territorial Deal

Albania’s constitutional court accepted on Thursday an appeal by the opposition Socialist Party to review the legality of a territorial agreement with Greece, which delineates the continental shelf between the two countries in the Ionian Sea.

 Western Envoy: Situation in Bosnia “Worrisome”

Bosnia’s top envoy Valentin Inzko met US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, on the second leg of a US tour in which he has highlighted the growing sence of urgency in Bosnia’s worsening political crisis.

 Serb Parliamentarian Copies Bush Shoe Thrower

Thursday’s session of Serbia’s Parliament was interrupted after an opposition parliamentarian Gordana Pop-Lazic threw her shoes at Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic.

For further contains

> For further information: www.birn.eu.com

* Central Asian News Service (Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia)

Daily news report of 26 November

> For further information: www.ca-news.org

* Le Courrier des Blakans (France and Balkans)

 Le Bulletin du Courrier des Balkans N°672

 « La haine au nom de Dieu »? Religions et nationalisme dans les Balkans

> For further information : http://balkans.courriers.info

* Ebrd (England, Eastern Europe, Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia)

Project summary documents - New PSD/s available on ebrd.com:

 Millennium Bank S.A., Poland

 EPCG Metering and Distribution Project, Montenegro

> For further information: www.ebrd.com

* Ec Delegation BiH (Bosnia)

EU searches for Journalism’s Next Young Stars - EU trazi sljedecu mladu zvijezdu novinarstva

> For further information: www.europa.ba

* Eurasianet (Usa, Caucasus and Central Asia)

EurasiaNet Weekly Update - Wednesday, November 25, 2009

 Caucasus

Ostriches Revive Memories of Georgia’s Political Past

A EURASIANET PHOTO STORY BY GIORGI LOMSADZE AND TEMO BARDZIMASHVILI

The six African ostriches at a farm south of Tbilisi may not know it, but they are, in fact, a long-necked part of Georgia ’s colorful political history.

 Central Asia

Kazakhstan: Rights Groups Disappointed by Progress Ahead of OSCE Chairmanship BY KATYA KUMKOVA

Caucasus

 Armenia: Scant Chance for Sargsyan-Ter Petrosian Pact, Analysts Say BY MARIANNA GRIGORYAN

 Central Asia

Kazakhstan: Battle over Flagship Bank Illustrates Volatile Mix of Business and Politics BY JOANNA LILLIS

 Caucasus

Azerbaijan: Baku Developing Satellite to Kick Off National Space Program BY SHAHIN ABBASOV

 Central Asia

Tajikistan: Is the West Showing Signs of Democratization Fatigue? BY ANDREI BOLGAR

 Washington

Washington: US Legislators Launch Congressional Caucus on Central Asia BY LAURIE RICH

 Central Asia

Uzbekistan: Opposition Figure’s Release Signal of Warming Uzbek-US Ties?

> For further information: www.eurasianet.org

* Ice – sede centrale di Roma (Italy)

 ICE: IL MINISTRO DELLO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO, CLAUDIO SCAJOLA, IN VISITA ALLA 21° EDIZIONE DELLA MEBEL DI MOSCA

Roma, 26 novembre 2009 - Il Ministro dello Sviluppo Economico, Claudio Scajola, accompagnato dal Presidente dell’ICE, Umberto Vattani, ha visitato oggi le aziende italiane presenti alla 21° edizione della Mebel, il principale evento fieristico internazionale in Russia e nei Paesi dell’ex-Unione Sovietica per il settore dell’arredamento e dei complementi d’arredo. Con oltre 8.000 mq. di area espositiva e 173 aziende, la partecipazione collettiva organizzata dall’ICE alla Mebel 2009 ha rappresentato anche quest’anno la presenza nazionale più significativa di tutta la manifestazione. Nell’area italiana, che occuperà lo storico padiglione 2, saranno esposti prodotti di alta qualità e stili diversi, dal classico al moderno, tipici del gusto e del design italiano. L’ampia offerta commerciale spazia dai mobili agli imbottiti, dal complemento d’arredo alle cucine, dai mobili per ufficio all’illuminazione per la casa per dar modo ai visitatori di apprezzare l’unicità e la tipicità degli articoli proposti e la loro ampia adattabilità a contesti abitativi differenti. In questa edizione i distretti industriali del mobile italiano maggiormente rappresentati sono le Marche (31%), il Veneto (22%) e la Toscana (18%), a cui si affiancano numerose aziende provenienti da Friuli Venezia Giulia (8%), Puglia (7%) e Lombardia (7%).

La Russia si conferma come il secondo mercato di sbocco per le esportazioni italiane di mobili: nonostante la difficile congiuntura internazionale, la parte più dinamica delle nostre imprese non ha abbandonato la Russia, ma ha anzi sviluppato strategie che mirano a uno stabile radicamento in questo grande mercato.

Al fine di dare maggiore risonanza alla partecipazione italiana, l’ICE ha realizzato una serie di attività promozionali, tra le quali l’ideazione ed esecuzione di un nuovo progetto di allestimento della collettiva italiana che, nella semplicità ed eleganza delle forme e dei colori, oltre a valorizzare la visibilità degli articoli esposti in fiera, intende evocare l’immagine e il gusto della “casa italiana”.

L’ICE ha inoltre organizzato una master class sul tema del “design italiano ed interior decoration”, rivolta ad architetti, interior decorators ed al mondo accademico locale, al fine di accrescere la cultura e la conoscenza del design italiano e quindi ampliare le fasce di consumo attualmente attestate prevalentemente sul mobile tradizionale. Le lezioni sono state affidate a professionisti di fama mondiale quali Paolo Portoghesi , Massimo Iosa Ghini e Massimo Papiri.

Per facilitare la presentazione della produzione nazionale sul mercato russo, inoltre, sono state allestite mostre d’immagine e punti di design. Un impianto multimediale realizzato in collaborazione con Promos, le Camere di Commercio di Milano, Monza e Brianza, Udine, Pesaro, il Centro estero delle Marche e del Veneto (“Cartoline dall’Italia – viaggio delle eccellenze territoriali dell’arredamento italiano”). Accanto a questo, una mostra sull’artigianato toscano, realizzata in collaborazione con Artex e la Regione Toscana (“La Stanza delle Meraviglie”) e infine una Mostra sull’arredamento della tavola, ideata e realizzata in collaborazione con Artex e la Regione Toscana (“La Tavola Sublime”). > For further information: www.ice.it

* Interfax (Russia and Cis)

Interfax Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama, November 26

> For further information: www.interfax.com

* Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Budapest (Hungary/Italy)

 All’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Budapest si ricorda Guido Romanelli

Martedì 1 dicembre 2009, alle ore 18.00 presso l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Budapest, si terrà la proiezione del film Guido Romanelli missione a Budapest (2009 – 52’, in lingua italiana) di Gilberto Martinelli. Prima e dopo il film si prevede un incontro con il regista Gilberto Martinelli.

(Ungheria 1919.) Un giovane colonnello italiano viene inviato a Budapest come plenipotenziario delle forze vincitrici della Prima Guerra Mondiale. Questo documentario narra la vicenda di un militare italiano che all’indomani della fine della prima guerra mondiale incontra il nemico ungherese nel suo territorio, scoprendone, dietro la divisa, l’uomo con tutto il suo orgoglio e il suo amor di patria nonostante la sconfitta del proprio Paese. Guido Romanelli, per quanto nelle sue possibilità, sosterrà il popolo ungherese fino alla pace del Trianon.

> For further information: www.iicbudapest.esteri.it

* Latvian Centre for Human Rights (Latvia)

Newsletter of 26 November, 2009:

 Minister of Education and Science Tatjana Koke believes Latvia has a successful model of bilingual education that could be a good example to all Europe

 Vesti Segodnya prints an interview with Vice President of the World Congress of Russian Speaking Jewry Valeriy Engel

 Ethnic minorities’ festival “United in Diversity” will start on 28 November

The Minister of Education and Science Tatjana Koke believes that Latvia has a successful model of bilingual education and it could be a good example to all European countries. According to the data of the Ministry of Education and Science for the past school year, 73,54% of all Latvian students studied in Latvian language and 25,83% in Russian language. Among ethnic minorities in Russian language studied 96,77% Jews, 86,16% Ukrainians, 83,27% Russians, 77,09% Belorussians, 71,34% Polish, and 56,35% Germans. 70,48% Roma, 56,74% Lithuanians, and 52,84% Estonians studied in Latvian language. Vesti Segodnya

Vesti Segodnya prints an interview with Vice President of the World Congress of Russian Speaking Jewry Valeriy Engel. Mr Engel argues that Waffen SS was part of SS organisation condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal and criticizes Latvia for justification of Latvian Waffen SS legionnaires. Mr. Engel also believes that it is wrong to equate Nazi regime and Stalin’s regime because Holocaust cannot be equated with anything else.

Chas reports that a cultural festival of ethnic minorities “United in Diversity” organised by the association of ethnic cultural NGOs will start on 28 November. The festival is held for the seventh year.

> For further information: www.humanrights.org.lv

* Lukoil (Russia and Cis)

PRESS-RELEASES

LUKOIL CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 3% IN NINE MONTHS OF 2009

> For further information: www.lukoil.com

* Nato (Belgium)

 NATO Secretary General to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina

The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will visit Sarajevo on Friday, 27 November 2009. He will meet with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikola Spiric, with members of the Bosnian Tri-Presidency, with Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj, with Minister of Defence Selmo Cikotic and with members of Parliament.

* Media Advisory

14:15 Joint meeting with members of the BiH Presidency – Presidency Building

 NATO Secretary General to travel to Montenegro

The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, will travel to Podgorica on 26 – 27 November 2009. He will meet with President Filip Vujanovic, with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Milan Rocen, with Minister of Defence Boro Vucinic and with the Speaker of Parliament Ranko Krivokapic.

* Media Advisory

11:15 Joint meeting with the press with Prime Minister Djukanovic – Vila Gorica

> For further information: www.nato.int

* Osce (Austria, Eastern Europe, Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia)

 Kyrgyz migrants sending less money home, finds study supported by OSCE Centre in Bishkek

BISHKEK, 26 November 2009 - Kyrgyz citizens working in Russia are sending less money home but a mass return of migrants has not occurred, found an OSCE Centre-supported survey on the implications of the global financial crisis for Kyrgyz labour migrants that was presented at a conference in Bishkek today.

"It is important to stress, particularly in today’s financial and economic situation, that migration is a positive force which can help the Kyrgyz government to overcome economic downturns. Therefore, policy-makers should carefully consider different options to deal with migration and migrant labour for long-term socio-economic development in Kyrgyzstan. The OSCE hopes the survey we present today will make a timely contribution to policy and human needs," said Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek supported the survey, which focused on Kyrgyz labour migrants in Russia, with an emphasis on the migrant return and remittance dynamic. It was conducted by CASE-Kyrgyzstan, an independent research think-tank, across the country and in Russia. The local office of ACTED, a French non-governmental organization, carried out the survey in the southern provinces of Kyrgyzstan.

The survey found that remittances had fallen by half during the April-September 2009 period compared with the same period in 2008. Although Kyrgyz labour migrants were sending home less money, less often, they were not returning home in large numbers, as some experts had predicted.

The results were presented at a conference, entitled "The behaviour of Kyrgyz labour migrants in the context of the global financial crisis", which gathered more than 70 national policy-makers, local and international experts and civil society representatives. The participants discussed the use of remittances and more effective reintegration of returning migrants, and developed recommendations to improve labour migration management in Kyrgyzstan, including the establishment of a working group comprising national and international experts.

Toktosun Sabyrov, Kyrgyz Deputy Minister for Labour, Employment and Migration, added: "The Kyrgyz government is grateful to the international community for initiatives taken in order to improve labour migration management in Kyrgyzstan. The survey supported by the OSCE provides us with the latest trends and data in migration processes, and therefore it is a valuable instrument for us in adapting our policy in the context of the economic recession."

The survey and conference were carried out as part of the Labour Migration and Employment programme supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

The survey report is available in Kyrgyz, Russian and English.

Read

> For further information: www.osce.org

* Osservatorio sui Balcani e Caucaso (Italy, Balkans and Caucasus)

 Un anno di Pahor

Un anno di centrosinistra al governo in Slovenia. Molte le aspettative deluse, anche perché imperversa la crisi economica. E i maligni affermano che la cosa migliore che il premier sia riuscito a fare è lustrare le scarpe ai giocatori della nazionale di calcio dopo la loro qualificazione ai mondiali

Read

 Ultimatum a Berisha

I socialisti albanesi non solo stanno boicottando il parlamento, ora scendono anche in piazza. Contestano le ultime elezioni, a loro dire caratterizzate da numerosi brogli. E il loro leader, Edi Rama, lancia un ultimatum al premier Berisha

Read

> For further information: www.osservatoriobalcani.org

* Presidency of Russian Federation (Russia and Cis)

Daily news report of 26 November 2009:

 Speech at Meeting of the Commission for Modernisation and Technological Development of Russia’s Economy

 MEETING-COMMISSION-MODERNISATION-ECONOMY

 TELEPHONE CONVERSATION-INDIA-PRESIDENT-PATIL

 MEETING-COMMISSION-MODERNISATION-ECONOMY

 CONGRATULATIONS-PATRIARCH-THEODOROS

 ANNOUNCEMENT-VISIT-ITALY

 ANNOUNCEMENT-VISIT-BELARUS

> For further information: http://president.kremlin.ru/eng

* Rai – programma Estovest (Italy)

Una famiglia su venti in italia si affida ai servizi di una badante. È il dato che emerge dalle ultime statistiche, che seppur in maniera ufficiosa, spuntano dal nulla soltanto in occasione di qualche sporadica regolarizzazione di massa. Estovest, la rubrica settimanale della Tgr prodotta dalla sede Rai per il Friuli Venezia Giulia, dedica l’apertura della puntata di sabato, in onda alle 11.15 su Raitre, alle difficili situazioni di vita delle assistenti familiari, che molto spesso arrivano dai paesi dell’Est Europa. Straniere in Italia, ma spesso straniere anche a casa loro. Andrea Vardanega descrive le storie delle badanti, che sono diventate un punto di partenza per una serie di eventi sul tema delle migrazioni, nell’ambito della rassegna S/Paesati 2009, organizzata a Trieste.

Quindi un servizio realizzato da Eva Ciuk a pochi chilometri dall’Italia. Il carso sloveno custodisce un capolavoro dell’ingegnosità medievale: il castello di Predjama. Incastonato nella roccia, è stato una vera e propria fortezza inaccessibile ed inespugnabile. Il suo abitante più famoso è stato il leggendario cavaliere Erasmo di Predjama, che per oltre un anno si prese gioco dell’esercito dell’imperatore d’Austria respingendo i continui attacchi.

Segue un servizio realizzato in Polonia da Gian Paolo Girelli e Renato Orso. La pittura di panorami non è mai stata annoverata fra le forme di arte superiore, ma il diorama di Wroclaw, che rappresenta quasi in modo tridimensionale la battaglia di Raclawice del 1794, richiama moltissimi visitatori. Un dipinto da guinness che ha dimensioni gigantesche: 15 metri di altezza per quasi 200 di circonferenza. La grande popolarità del panorama di Raclawice è dovuta all’argomento del dipinto che ricorda l’eroica lotta per l’indipendenza della Polonia.

Chiude la puntata un servizio realizzato in Bosnia da Enzo Ragone. Le canzoni italiane sono da sempre la colonna sonora della vita di Abdullah Sidran, considerato il maggiore scrittore bosniaco e autore delle sceneggiature dei primi film che fecero conoscere al mondo il talento di Emir Kusturica.

La rubrica Estovest è curata da Giovanni Marzini e Gian Paolo Girelli.

> For further information: www.estovest.rai.it

* Rai – programma Levante (Italy)

Nuovo appuntamento con "Levante", la rubrica nazionale della TGR realizzata dalla redazione Rai di Bari a cura di Giancarlo Spadoni e Pino Bruno, in onda sabato 28 novembre alle 11.30 su Raitre. In questa puntata:

TUNNEL DEL TEMPO di Costantino Foschini

Istanbul è pronta per l’appuntamento dell’anno prossimo, quando sarà capitale europea della cultura. Manca soltanto il tunnel sotto il Bosforo e il motivo del ritardo è quanto mai nobile. Durante gli scavi c’è stata una straordinaria scoperta archeologica, che "Levante" vi mostra in esclusiva.

STRANIERI E A CASA LORO di Annarosa Macrì

da cinquant’anni, alle otto in punto, ad Atene suona la campanella della scuola italiana. E’ frequentata da figli di greco-italiani ma anche da altri cittadini del mondo, che pensano di trovare nell’italiano un’opportunità in più per il loro futuro.

WRITTEN IN ITALY di Sergio De Nicola

Written in Italy è una mostra itinerante di libri italiani tradotti all’estero, patrocinata dall’Università’ di Foggia. Abbiamo seguito la tappa in Macedonia, dove c’è un interesse crescente verso la letteratura e la cultura del nostro paese.

PANE E PALLONE di Vito Giannulo

Ha esordito nel campionato italiano di Terza Categoria ed ha un comune denominatore: tutti i giocatori sono di nazionalità romena. L’idea è della comunità romena di Bari, fondatrice nel 2006 di una squadra di calcio dilettantistica. Si chiama Asd Romania Bat, dove Bat è l’acronimo di Barletta, Andria e Trani.

"Levante" va in onda anche sul canale satellitare Rai Med, ogni giovedi’ alle 21.22 e alle 23.17. Rai Med e’ trasmesso in chiaro anche dalla piattaforma SKY, sul canale 804. L’intera puntata si può vedere sul sito Internet www.levante.rai.it

> For further information: www.levante.rai.it

* Seenews (Bulgaria & Balkans)

 Daily news report of Albania (26 November 2009)

Read and click ALBANIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Bosnia-Herzegovina (26 November 2009)

Read and click BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Bulgaria (26 November 2009)

Read and click BULGARIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Croatia (26 November 2009)

Read and click CROATIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Macedonia (26 November 2009)

Read and click MACEDONIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Moldova (26 November 2009)

Read and click MOLDOVA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Montenegro (26 November 2009)

Read and click MONTENEGRO on menu bar

 Daily news report of Romania (26 November 2009)

Read and click ROMANIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Serbia (26 November 2009)

Read and click SERBIA on menu bar

 Daily news report of Slovenia (26 November 2009)

Read and click SLOVENIA on menu bar

> For further information: www.seenews.com

* The Times of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia)

Free Newsletter - November 26, 2009

In this issue:

1. Strategic road corridor to be improved in southern Kyrgyzstan

2. China Kyrgyzstan’s major trade partner

3. Kazakhstan-Russia cooperation makes strides

4. LETTER FROM THE STEPPE: Monetarier and monetarier

1. Strategic road corridor to be improved in southern Kyrgyzstan

(Kyrgyzstan, November 26, 2009-issue 592) BY MARIA LEVINA TCA CORRESPONDENT BISHKEK (TCA)

The total length of roads in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken oblast exceeds 1.2 thousand km. Running mainly through rural areas, most of these roads are in need of reconstruction and capital repairs. Geographically, the Batken oblast is peculiar in that its territory comprises the enclaves of two neighboring states – Sokh (Uzbekistan) and Varukh (Tajikistan). Established in 1999, the Batken oblast is located in southwest Kyrgyzstan and occupies 8.5 percent of the country’s territory. The region is in the Ferghana valley and borders Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Osh-Batken-Isfana highway is the only path linking Batken with the rest of Kyrgyzstan and the capital Bishkek. The route passes through Uzbek territory twice and once through Tajikistan. Traveling this road was no problem in the Soviet times when there was united transport network. Since 1991, however, traveling the same route means frequent delays at border crossings. Unauthorized checks of documents and cargo, as well as cases of mistreatment of the Batken oblast’s citizens, have triggered border conflicts. That is why improving the existing roads and building new bypasses (which detour the enclaves) remains one of the most important economic and political challenges. To ensure the transport independence, a 50 km length Pulgon-Burgondu road was built, as well as the 56-meter long bridge over the Sokh river. Now the residents of the area can bypass the territory of neighboring states by the Osh-Batken-Isfana road. To improve the Osh-Batken-Isfana road to international standards, a $35 million loan agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the EBRD was signed. The World Bank has approved a $25 million IDA Credit and an IDA Grant for the Osh-Batken-Isfana road rehabilitation. The new project will allow more direct travel between destinations for road users. The National Road Rehabilitation Project is one of the priority infrastructure investments identified in the Government’s Country Development Strategy for 2009-2011. According to World Bank Country Manager for Kyrgyzstan Roger J. Robinson, the investment, once implemented will open up the only land transport connection between the main Kyrgyz cities in the Ferghana Valley and the rest of the country. About one million inhabitants or 18 percent of the country’s population will reap its benefit. This project will finance the rehabilitation of about 30 kilometers of a section of the Osh-Batken-Isfana road, one of the six strategic corridors in Kyrgyzstan. The project will be implemented within three years by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic. The European Commission will allocate a 7.5 million euro grant for construction of the Kok-Tala-Pulgon-Burgondu road. This year, at the expense of the state budget major repair and reconstruction of roads in length of 46.1 km have been carried out. The task is to provide the region with a transportation system that would be independent from those of adjacent states. Once commissioned, detour roads will foster crop and livestock farming oblast-wide, as well as the export of produce to other regions. Seated on one of the oldest branches of the Great Silk Road, Batken may well grow into a popular tourist destination, given better transportation facilities. The Batken oblast’s location at the juncture of the Ferghana Valley’s three states also makes it ideally situated for cross-border trade. The region’s economic potential is great: with some 20 million people living in the Ferghana valley, it seems to be a huge market waiting to be exploited.

2. China Kyrgyzstan’s major trade partner Kyrgyzstan invites China to invest in infrastructure projects

(Kyrgyzstan, November 26, 2009-issue 592) BY LIDIA SAVINA TCA CONTRIBUTOR

BISHKEK (TCA) – Last year, China ranked second in Kyrgyzstan’s trade with other countries, said Kyrgyzstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov at the Kyrgyz-Chinese Economic Forum held in Bishkek last week. The event was organized by the Ministry for Economic Regulation (MER) of the Kyrgyz Republic and the China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation (CEATEC). Representing Kyrgyzstan at the forum were First Deputy Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov, Deputy Minister of Economic Regulation Sanjar Mukanbetov, Head of the Investment and Innovation Department of the Central Agency for Development, Investment and Innovation Kudret Mamatov, President of the Chamber of Commerce Jumasarlyk Nurjanov, and members of the Bishkek-based International Business Council (IBC) and local business community. The Chinese delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, Department of Commerce of Xinjiang, and representatives of 40 major Chinese companies.

 Chinese investment

Since 1995, Kyrgyzstan has received more than $3 billion in foreign direct investment, said Akylbek Japarov. During this period Kyrgyzstan has received $163.5 million of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI), representing 5.3 percent of total FDI in the Kyrgyz economy. Unfortunately, this does not correspond to the current realities, said Japarov. The Kyrgyz Government expects Chinese companies to invest in the Kyrgyz economy without guarantees from the state, he added. Japarov expressed hope that with assistance of Chinese partners, FDI in Kyrgyzstan would increase to $1 billion. Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Wang Kaiwen noted that good-neighborly relations between the two countries have been developing in recent years and success has been achieved in many sectors of economy. According to Chinese data, the trade turnover between the two countries reached $7.33 billion in 2008, four times more than in 2006. In 2009, despite the global crisis, the figure continues to grow. Currently, hundreds of Chinese investment projects are being developed in Kyrgyzstan, and there are about 300 joint Kyrgyz-Chinese ventures in the country.

 Major trade partner

According to Deputy Minister of Economic Regulation Sanjar Mukanbetov, the trade turnover of Kyrgyzstan with China totaled $772.6 million in 2008, which was an 85 percent increase compared to 2007. Since January 2009, bilateral trade has already reached $3.45 billion. China has provided assistance to Kyrgyzstan in the spheres of electric energy, chemical industry, light industry, machine building and agriculture. The main items of bilateral trade are agricultural products and textiles. Kyrgyzstan also exports refined oil products and inorganic chemicals to China. Most of the exports from China include machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, chemical fiber, vehicles, and ferrous metals. “According to the MER, China is one of the most important trade partners of Kyrgyzstan. However, the ministry acknowledges that traditionally the trade balance is in favor of China. In 2008, imports from China exceeded the export from Kyrgyzstan 13 times. Also, traditionally, the Kyrgyz Republic exports raw materials, metals, and hides, while the potential for exporting manufactured goods or deeply processed products from Kyrgyzstan to China is hardly explored. Yet, the Kyrgyz Republic has goods to offer even to such a highly saturated market as China,” said Ulanbek Akmatbayev, general director of Reemtsma-Kyrgyzstan and the IBC’s first deputy chairman. Head of the Chinese delegation, CEATEC President Xu Bingjin said that long-term cooperation has laid a solid foundation for trade and economic relations between the two countries. China attaches great importance to trade and economic cooperation with Central Asian countries within the SCO. The Chinese government has offered SCO member countries a $10 billion loan for the development of strategically important sectors of the economy.

 Investment climate

Managing Director of MGN Capital, Robert Genkin, briefed guests on the investment climate in Kyrgyzstan and the prospects for possible cooperation in such fields as natural resources, energy, agriculture, trade, and tourism. Today it is difficult to find a CIS country which may show positive economic growth, said Genkin. According to the Ministry of Finance, in Kyrgyzstan, real GDP growth for January-September 2009 amounted to 2.9 percent. The IMF predicts GDP growth in Kyrgyzstan at 0.9 percent in 2009 and at 2.9 percent in 2010.

 Legal aspects of doing business

A partner of Kalikova & Associates law firm, Ulan Tilenbaev, told about the legal aspects of doing business in Kyrgyzstan. According to Tilenbaev, 100 percent foreign capital is allowed in Kyrgyzstan. Risk of losses is limited to the value of the contributions (in LLC) and to the value of stocks owned (in JSC). Registration of LLC and JSC takes only five days. He also explained what types of business activities are subject to licensing in Kyrgyzstan. It was good news for foreign business people that entrepreneurial activities in the mining industry, hotel and resort management, import and sale of telecom and IT equipment, software development, fruit and vegetable processing should not be licensed in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, foreigners may lease agricultural land and may own buildings and structures on any land plot. There are no restrictions on currency import and export, current payments, operating revenues and cross-border transfer of capital. Access to finance can be reached through 22 banks and 325 microfinance institutions. The Kyrgyz side presented to the Chinese delegation about 150 investment projects worth more than $1 billion. Proposals were related to the implementation of infrastructure projects in development, energy, communication, rehabilitation and construction of roads, and introduction of new technologies.

3. Kazakhstan-Russia cooperation makes strides (Kazakhstan , November 26, 2009-issue 592)

YALTA, Ukraine (TCA) – Kazakhstan and Russia reached a number of agreements in different spheres during the CIS Council of the heads of government meeting in Yalta, Ukraine on November 20.

 Energy

Russia’s Inter RAO UES, VEB, Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Energo, and EBRD have signed an agreement defining the terms for financing the construction of the third power block at Ekibastuz GRES-2 in Kazakhstan. Inter RAO’s head, Yevgeny Dod, told journalists that "total overall financing will reach up to $800 million". With this, the parameters of the loan are being specified, he added. Russia and Kazakhstan also agreed on measures to ensure parallel operations of the two country’s energy systems. Russia’s Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Kazakh Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sauat Mynbayev signed the corresponding documents on November 20. In addition, Russia’s nuclear power agency Rosatom and its Kazakh counterpart, Kazatomprom, signed a "road map" for partnership in the production of natural and enriched uranium. The agreement was signed on the same day in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

 Oil transit

Russia and Kazakhstan have also amended their oil transit tariff policy. The changes, which amend the bilateral Russian-Kazakh treaty on oil transit from June 7, 2002, are contained in the protocol signed in Yalta. The amendments include the stipulation that transit tariffs must be "competitive and non-discriminatory". They fix the tariff until December 31, 2014 at the level existing on November 1, 2009, with possible annual indexation for inflation, the Russian Energy Ministry said. The tariff might also include an investment component in the event the two countries decide to expand capacity on existing oil pipelines.

 Oil pipelines

The two countries have also agreed to cooperate in developing and implementing expansion and reconstruction projects on existing oil pipelines and in considering promising oil transportation projects in new export directions. Specific plans include upgrading the capacity on the Atyrau-Samara pipeline to 25 million tonnes a year from 15 million tonnes and on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline to 67 million tonnes a year by 2014. They have also agreed to cooperate on the Burgas-Alexandroupolis and Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline projects. Russia and Kazakhstan have also signed an agreement on favorable charges for transporting Kazakh freight through Russia and for carrying Russian cargo through Kazakhstan, as well as a memorandum of intention between Russia’s Sollers and Kazakhstan’s Azia Avto on the creation of a joint car production in Kazakhstan.

4. LETTER FROM THE STEPPE Monetarier and monetarier

(Kazakhstan, November 26, 2009-issue 592) By Charles van der Leeuw special for TCA

ALMATY — Much noise constantly surrounds taxpayers’ money spent by governments around the world, including the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, on financial enterprise run into trouble through over-speculative asset pricing and degraded liability leverage. What is less known is the fact that the rich nations in the world keep getting richer by the day by squeezing money out of the means of poorer nations.

Kazakhstan’s National Bank earlier this month bought more than $2.5 billion on the local currency market in order to slow the appreciation of the Kazakh currency, the tenge. The reason is simple: the market became awash with dollars, thereby sending the amount of tenge on the floor down and its price up. According to National Bank head Grigory Marchenko, about a quarter of the influx of greenbacks came from "foreign players" who are supposed to have made a handsome profit in the process.

Ironically enough, if any private paper trader does something like that on any western stock exchange he will be banished from the floor for attempts to orchestrate prices. Only cynics are likely to appreciate that institutions working on behalf of those who make the law are free to break the law. But central banks across the globe have been doing this for almost a century - ever since the financial implosion of the 1930s forced them to intervene. A most interesting question is why they do it.

Taking more than a casual glance at global monetary conditions, the answer is as clear as it is blood-staining. In colonial times, Europe’s "modern imperialist" powers, a term put forward by Britain’s policy-maker Cecil Rhodes, held their overseas territories in their grip by two means: guns and cash. Central banks controlled the valuation of European currencies, thereby maximising gains for commodities varying from ivory to slaves and from pepper to gold on Europe’s markets while minimising earnings for those from whose lands they came from.

Rhodes’ concept survived the collapse of the British colonial empire across the Atlantic for a long time and the struggle with the aim to topple it is far from over. By printing astronomic amounts of banknotes and buying whatever they could with them, America leveraged world markets to the extent that without the USA as a giant customer producers would simply starve and the valuation of their produce implode. On one hand, producers have benefited from this but their exposure to slumps in the market has remained no less for it. In all, the greenback is a worm in the world economy that accumulates value in the USA at the expense of the rest of the world - just like Sterling used to accumulate value in the United Kingdom at the expense of overseas colonies.

In principle, a currency behaves just like any commodity on any market. If it is around in abundance, prices will show restraint. If it becomes scarce, prices are bound to go up. In the case of that flimsy commodity known as the Kazakh tenge, the volume of competing currencies - dollars in particular since the greenback remains the scourge of non-monetary markets including oil trade on which Kazakhstan keeps desperately dependent - determines their price in the market place.

Before the introduction of the European single currency, the distinction between "hard" and "soft" currencies was clear. There was the dollar enthroned sky-high in which virtually all trade benchmarks were expressed and which until the middle of the 1980s was even pegged to the price of that tempting, glittering commodity known as gold - not good for much in terms of utility but since it does not rust it has been considered a sustainable collateral from prehistoric times.

The Federal Bank of the United States subsequently broke the chain - thereby reinforcing the dollar’s supremacy as a result of which national banks in almost all countries of the world - including those in the Soviet-controlled zone - started building up cash reserves in dollars to the detriment of gold. Later on, the Deutschmark, Sterling and the Japanese yen took a minor part of reserve currency, but always following the dollar’s trend rather than offsetting it. Only recently, Russia and China spread their reserves over a "currency basket" consisting of dollars and euros. But commodity markets remain by and large denominated in dollars and corrections in response to exchange rate fluctuations remain indirect.

The final answer remains a long way off. A global single currency, recently proposed by Kazakhstan’s head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev, remains a brain exercise without even a remote chance of materialising. Brave Grigory Marchenko may well claim that he intends to put limits on speculation by "foreign players" but already had to admit that interventions by the National Bank on the market cannot avoid it. The US dollar is simply too powerful and other currencies, with the possibly pending exception of the Euro, too weak. Dependence on the dollar’s, and thereby America’s, "virtual imperialism" remains in place, and governments have the immediate task to constrain rather than ignore it, as long as the situation remains as it is.

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